Copyright And Licensing Of Art

Have you ever heard about how an artist gets his work copied by another artist? It could either be a popular artist who has their work plagiarized by another lesser-known artist.

If the image is no longer unique and exclusive, the art object, the thing, must be made mysteriously so,” (Berger 44). Therefore, the final step in the exploitation of power is mystification of its origins. Over time a concept will build its image and solidify its strength through results, showing the public its value until it becomes integrated and thus, hidden within society. There are several examples of power that has become formally accepted or internalized by the public and it is difficult to see how they exploit power because their origins are mystified. For the concept of originality in art, we can see how its status may have risen because of the definition we give to “originality” rules that have commercial purposes or vice versa. Some examples include companies that have copyright issues to protect names and identities that belong to them, or schools that incorporate rules about plagiarism. The idea of originality has already become internalized within our society that assigning a market meaning with it, just seems natural. If our judicial system has already incorporated ideas of “originality”, then not many people will see any problems with it. However, it is important to look at the origins and realize how a power came to be to prevent it from being exploited. Another covert concept integrated within society

Art by its nature is a subject of the philosophical, social, economic, political or religious context surrounding its creator. More often than not, a work of art addresses a specific topic or somewhat revolves around a particular person. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the context of a piece of painting, either historical or cultural, to its intrinsic value or the artwork's meaning. On the other hand, different cultures and time utilized specific conventions that govern the representation of objects of creativity. This essay highlights various pieces of art and their relationship to particular cultural, political, economic, or social settings. Moreover, it pinpoints how different times influence art presentation.

With images, words, and sounds been almost endlessly reproduced and distributed, various critics of modern culture suggest that traditional ideas about art and authenticity are no longer applicable. The problem is said to have been noticed back in the 1930s in the popular essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction that was concerned about what would happen to the “aura” of unique works of art when photography and other techniques if anybody could make unlimited copies of images. With the rise of digital technology, copying ability became vast and complex and hence the idea of originality is thrown into

New ideas come from everywhere whether they are from people, places, books, animals, or even come from something as meaningless as silence; however, we don’t just get new ideas out of the blue, we have to be inspired and influenced by those elements to create new art. Unlike Plato’s Ion, which states that God speaks through the artists, Lethem’s The Ecstasy of Influence: A plagiarism; projects that inspiration comes from the influence of our surroundings which is the key to creation.

This is important to protect a creator 's moral and economic rights and integrity of their work: So they are recognised as the creator of their work (no one else is identified as the creator) able to protect their work from derogatory treatment; inappropriate modification, distortion or other interference with its integrity. Appropriation is not copying or visual plagiarism.

Throughout human history people used to capture the reality of their time, express their feelings and share their impressions by copying both literally or figurative the mundane. The so-called artists have had different impacts in society all along the centuries. Only a few are currently taught in school, although the reverberation of their work is still impregnated in XXI Century. Nowadays, the term ‘artist’ can be used in reference of painters, sculptors, writers, singers, choreographers and other professions whose production are considered valuable culturally speaking. One of the main problems is that their work produce such a magnificent impact on the audience the artist is set aside and usually forgotten as a person, so they feel their rights to be violated.

Some artists also have the rights of attribution and integrity, meaning they can claim authorship and prevent the use of their name for works that are not theirs. There are different time constraints for a work to be copyright-protected in the United States according to the Artists Rights Society. They also explained that any changes in copyright terms have occurred over the years, but now there is a total of 95 years of copyright protection of works published before January 1, 1978, and a term of the lifetime of the artist plus 70 years for works published after January 1, 1978. The term of copyright protection is different from country to country and depends on what the individual nations decide to do. On the “Copyright Basics” page of Artists Rights Society, they state that in 1994, the European Union, as a whole, established a term of the lifetime of the artist plus 70 years. Understanding the background information about copyright in the United States is helpful when discussing the specific issues right for artists.

Ideas are neither created nor destroyed, therefore the notion of originality is false. Originality cannot exist if every thought and idea are preexisting, because it is proven that as human beings we are naturally inclined to copy one another. In art specifically, it comes to no surprise that artists can become heavily influenced by another’s artwork and unconsciously copy them. In some instances, this would be considered plagiarism and copyright infringement, but to Jonathan Lethem, it is a gift. In his piece, “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism” he discusses the obscenities of privatizing ideas and opinions, because it restricts creativity. By forming false entitlement on something that was never truly yours, other individuals suffer

1: A copyright is a form of protection given to authors or creators of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and other intellectual works.

In the article "When Stealing Isn't Stealing" the author explains that an individual’s original work should be lawfully protected.

A copyright gives the originator of literary, artistic, or music works the right to perform, publish, record, or print them. This can include sound recordings, paintings, photographs, films, melodies, television, radio broadcasts, cable programs, performances, and even codes to computer programs (Legal Information Institute). Since copyrights cover several different types of materials, the duration varies depending on what work is being protected. According to the Copyright Act of 1976, musical, artistic, and literary works created after January 1, 1978 have copyrights that last 70 years after the author has passed away, 95 years after publication, or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first (United States Copyright Office, 2011). However, the published editions of these works have copyrights that last 25 years after being first published. Broadcast and cable programs, on the other hand, have a copyright duration of 50 years after being created

Copyright protection extends to expressions and not to ideas . Originality is the threshold standard of requirement of copyright. The case Walter v Lane [1900] AC 539 expounded the three essential elements (labour, skill and judgment ) of originality. The court adapted to sweat of brow test with no element of creativity require to make the work original. Copyright can be granted if a work is created through the effort of an individual despite the work containing statement of facts and no creative input by an author.

“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.

It is important to note - since the work is still authenticated by its audience, art still